The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin || Review

Monday, 6 March 2017

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is one of those books that's been around for a LONG time. I've heard good and bad things about this book, and the rest of the series, and I wanted to read it for myself for so long. After writing my Series I Haven't Read/Finished post I realised just how much I'd wanted to read this when it came out. I decided I was in the mood for it and FINALLY picked it up.

Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

─────────────────────

My Rating

─────────────────────

My ReviewThis bookwas released in 2011...I'm honestly baffled. It's taken me 6 YEARS to read it. I'm pretty sure that's a record. I heard a lot about this book when it was first released and I really wanted to read it but for some reason I never picked it up. Then slowly the rest of the trilogy came out and still, nothing. I'm actually annoyed at myself, although this wasn't the most amazing book I've ever read I still really enjoyed it and it did not deserve to be sat unread for this long. I'm sorry Mara Dyer, i'm sorry...

I'd pretty much forgotten what this book was about, I knew it featured some type of memory loss which is always a big selling point for me so I was excited. The synopsis of this book is so vague but I think it's best like that. I'd recommend going into this book not really knowing anything about the plot. I loved that we were thrown straight into it. There was no awkward character introductions in the first few chapters as is the case with so many books. They were introduced seamlessly as time went on.

I found myself thinking 'WHAT THE HELL?' a lot in this book. Most of the time I had no friggin idea what was going on. I mean yeah, it is supposed to be like that because it does have mystery elements to it. However, at some points I was getting fed up and just wanted to know what was happening. The main character Mara suffers from PTSD after her friends died in an accident. Because of this she has hallucinations and a lot of the time I couldn't keep up with what was real and what wasn't. It started to get really frustrating but I understand how it's necessary to the plot.

Romance is a big part of this book. The love interest is your typical brooding, flirty, doesn't even have to try boy. I know, this is overdone in YA but I gave it a pass since this was released in 2011. Also, I couldn't help but swoon. He was so lovely to Mara and just wanted to help her through everything. I really shipped them together and loved the whole 'will they, wont they' stage in their relationship. It's not often I enjoy the romance in books and while this was classically young adult and cheesy, I just loved them!

About 3/4 of my way into this book something happened that just threw me off completely. It wasn't a plot twist exactly, more like a random happening where I once again had no clue what was happening. For about 3 chapters I had no clue what was going on, I even went back and checked to make sure I hadn't missed a chapter or something. It felt like the author had just thrown it in at random and the pacing was completely off. After those few chapters the book when back to normal and I was left rubbing my head in confusion...

Overall I really enjoyed reading the unbecoming of Mara Dyer. I'm going to continue on with the trilogy because I think the books could get better. This one kind of felt like it was building up to something that never really came so I'm hoping book two will answer some of my questions. It was fast paced, fun and confusing (in a good way, and a bad way sometimes).

Have you read the Mara Dyer trilogy? What did you think? Do the books improve or get worse? Let me know in the comments!💖

33 comments

Im a big fan of memory loss stories but have heard such mixed things on this trilogy. I hate when I am lost in a book and feel like I missed something. Hope the books get better as they go on. Great review!

Yeah, I am as well. Mara is a super unreliable narrator and sometimes that's fine but other times it can be seriously annoying...I'm reading the second book at the minute and even though it's marginally better I don't feel like I've got the answers I deserve yet!

I read this maybe a year ago as a free read from Riveted. I can't remember much aside from the fact that I liked it and, yes, I swoon over her love interest! I think at some point, I considered getting the box set but I always fail to do so. ohwell. Great review, Kirsty! I should really buy my own copy and reread this!

I read this one a couple tears ago (long after the initial hype) and never continued with the series. I really, really dislike books with an unreliable narrator and Mara is pretty much epic when it comes to unreliable narrators. LOL It's just a pet peeve of mine and I try to avoid books with that kind of theme if I can help it. I just didn't know that about this one going in. I'm glad you liked it well enough to continue with the series!Tanya @ Girl Plus Books

Yeah, she is a highly unreliable narrator. In some ways I really enjoy it because it adds an extra layer of mystery to the book, but then other times it's just too confusing and I have no clue what's going on...I'm reading the second book now and her unreliable narration has continued!

I haven't read this series but I know for a fact that it was very popular when it had come out. And holy shit, 6 years is a long time! Great review Kirsty! I have heard that the author is also writing a spinoff of Noah, so I am definitely excited :)Prabhleen @ Booksarelife987

I remember I gave this one a good rating back when I first read it, but I honestly can't recall that much of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. lol, I still haven't even finished the series! But I do remember it was one of those books where strange events would happen, or I'd think I'd misread something, and I couldn't fully trust the narration. And then there was such a long wait for the last book that I think I just forgot to go back to it and didn't feel like re-reading book 2 again. If I read it again now, I kind of wonder how much my opinion would change...

Yeah that's how I felt as well, I went back chapters just to check I'd not overlooked something, and I hadn't...even though I really enjoy the mystery sometimes it's a little too confusing. I want to at least have some idea of what's going on...

Well, I've had this one on my wishlist forever and have yet to pick it up... so you are way ahead of me. You have renewed my interest and I may have to see if my library has it or bug them if they don't. :D

I only read the first book last year so you're not alone in being late to it!!😂 I think it was super good! I LOVED how it was full of delusions and like what's-real-or-not-real. That totally just appeals to me when reading, eeep. I haven't read the finale yet?!? Because SCARED. Also Noah/Mara are adorable.😍

Yeah I loved the mystery of it but sometimes I was so confused by it! I'm reading book two now and mara's still an unreliable narrator but I'm kind of finding out more about the mystery so it's becoming easier to figure out what's real and what's not! I am so sad though because at the minute Noah and Mara are kind of bugging me 😭! They just keep doing and saying the same stuff...

Great review, Kirsty! I feel the exact same way with Mara Dyer. I was really confused and I couldn't piece everything together. But it was so addicting, I couldn't put it down! I hope to continue the series soon.

Memory loss is a big selling point for me too!! I had mixed feelings about this series. I know I could not stop reading this first book. It's SO unputdownable. And I also spent 80% of the book totally confused. I didn't like the romance all that much. I felt like Mara needed a friend, not a boyfriend. The romance was better for me in the 2nd book-- but that might just be because I was used to it?? It definitely was a typical 2011 YA romance though!! You are so right about that! Hope you like the rest of the series :)

I know right! I just didn't know what was happening most of the time...and yeah I'm reading the second book at the minute but the romance for me has gotten worse. They're both just really annoying me but I'm still enjoying the book. I don't know, it's strange...

Being confused is not so good but I've been wanting to pick up this book for a long time now. The mixed reviews always stall me! I enjoy a good mystery and Mara sounds interesting despite being unreliable..Great review Kirsty <33

I STILL haven't read this! It's been on my wishlist since I first heard about it (5 years ago, I think?) but I still haven't managed to read it. Oops. XD I must say, I'm not a fan of books where the characters have hallucinations as it confuses the heck out of me and I like knowing exactly what's happening haha! I hope you enjoy the rest of the series even more! <3

That's how I was as well aha! Sometimes I really enjoy unreliable narrators but it has to be done in the right way, I don't want to be completely confused, I just want it to add a bit of mystery. Thank you!

I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed this! I love this series. It's a mind trip! Mara and Noah are great together. Noah...sigh... Was it the alligators that threw you off? LOL A lot of people seem to have a very WTF reaction to that.